Last night I was working with an 11U beginning pitcher named Alex. She’s a great kid, always smiling, always giving 100 percent. You can see a real love of the game in her, and a love of the opportunity her parents are giving her to learn how to pitch.

Being young, though, she has been struggling a bit to find the consistency that leads to control. Kids develop fine motor skills at different times, and it seems that Alex hasn’t quite gotten there yet. As a result, she was throwing balls all over the place.

Now, I am a believer that control is a result, not a goal. If you do the right things mechanically the ball will go where it’s supposed to go. But sometimes pitchers need a little help to push them toward that consistency.

You don’t want them to aim the ball, or do whatever it takes to get it to the catcher. That often leads to poor mechanics and slow pitches, which defeats the purpose of learning to pitch. But you do want them to start honing in on where they need to be. That’s when I got an idea.

I happened to have a Jugs Quick Snap pitching screen set up for hitting lessons that were happening after Alex’s pitching lesson. It’s the type with the hole in it. I use it so I can put the screen close to the hitter without giving my wife the opportunity to cash in the insurance policy she has on me – especially when I’m working with older hitters. That hole seemed like the perfect way to help Alex start working her way toward control.

So, I dragged it over and set it up a couple of feet in front of her and had her pitch through the hole. It’s large enough that it provides some leeway for the pitcher, yet small enough to make it something they have to work at. She struggled with it at first, but after a few minutes was able to get the ball through the hole (and toward her dad, who was catching) pretty regularly.

We then moved the screen to a distance of about 10 feet in front of her. She struggled again, but even when she didn’t get the ball through the hole she was getting a lot closer to that area than she had been.

What I liked about using the screen over having her pitch at close distance to the backstop (which we have also done) is it gave her context. It was regular pitching, but with a goal right in front of her.

As I write this it occurs to me we could even make a game of it – scoring points for getting the ball through the hole (with a full, 100 percent motion) and earning prizes depending on the score. Or maybe a prize for each time through, just to keep it fun. Hmmm, I’ll have to keep that in mind if we do it again.

I realize everyone doesn’t happen to have a Jugs protective screen handy. But if you do have access to one (or a similar screen) and are working with a pitcher who doesn’t quite seem to be able to lock in her mechanics, give it a try. Just be sure to let us know how it works for you.

As for Alex, it seemed to help. She’s still not quite there yet – it’s not a miracle cure by any means – but I have a feeling her brain will process it and she’ll be in a lot better shape the next time I see her.